AAN News

Suspected Seattle Arsonist Uses Alt-Weeklies to Start Firesnew

A 46-year-old man who was charged with 11 arsons this week "appears to be a fan of alternative weeklies," the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. According to court documents and police reports, Kevin Todd Swalwell has used both The Stranger and Seattle Weekly to help start fires in the Greenwood neighborhood.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer  |  11-18-2009  10:33 am  |  Industry News

AAN Begins Search for New Executive Director

As we announced on Monday, AAN's longtime executive director, Richard Karpel, is stepping down to take the same position at the American Society of News Editors. AAN has placed ads to find his successor on four websites and has received more than 20 applications thus far. The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors will do an initial screening of the candidates later this month; after this is complete, President Mark Zusman will appoint a separate committee that will likely meet and interview the finalists and make a recommendation to the Board of Directors. (FULL STORY)
AAN  |  10-30-2009  9:24 am  |  Association News

AAN's Executive Director Stepping Down

Richard Karpel, who joined the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies as its executive director in July 1995, is leaving AAN for the same position at the American Society of News Editors. His last day will be Nov. 25, although he has agreed to help the association in an unofficial capacity after that date to assist in the transition to a new staff chief executive. "I have been at AAN for the better part of my adult life, and it has been an incredible ride," he says. "I want to thank all of the AAN members past and present who have made my time here such a rich and rewarding experience." MORE: Here's ASNE's announcement. (FULL STORY)
AAN  |  10-26-2009  1:14 pm  |  Association News

CVC: Circ at Alt-Weeklies Flat from Q1 to Q2new

The latest audit data for the first six months of 2009 from Circulation Verification Council (CVC) finds that alt-weeklies' circulation rose 0.1 percent from Q1 to Q2, with 54 percent of alt-weeklies saying circulation rose in Q2.
Editor & Publisher  |  10-26-2009  8:29 am  |  Industry News

Seattle Weekly News Box Intentionally Set on Firenew

The Seattle Fire Department says someone set a Weekly news box ablaze on Monday night; the case has now been turned over to the Seattle Police Department's Arson squad, who will conduct a criminal investigation. The Weekly notes that the fire occurred in a "notorious section" of town plagued by drugs and prostitution that the paper described "in cringe-inducing detail" in a September cover story. Since the story came out, a number of arrests have been made to crack down, and some folks are apparently pissed. "That said ... setting one of our distribution boxes on fire," the Weekly's Vernal Coleman writes, "is so not a constructive way of airing grievances."
Seattle Weekly  |  10-22-2009  9:55 am  |  Industry News

AAN West and Web Publishing Conferences Return This Winter

After a one-year absence, both AAN West and the Web Publishing Conference are slated to return to the Bay Area this winter. The Web Publishing Conference will begin with a social event on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 27, and will end on the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 29. AAN West will begin that afternoon in Berkeley, with programming continuing all day on Saturday, Jan. 30. (FULL STORY)
AAN  |  10-13-2009  10:07 am  |  Association News

Catholic University Bans Washington City Paper After Sex Storynew

Washington City Paper has not been available on Catholic University's campus since May, when the alt-weekly ran a story on the school's campus sex ban, "Screw U: Inside the Secret Sex Life of Catholic University." The university's director of public affairs tells the campus paper The Tower that City Paper's removal was brought on by its "hateful article ridiculing our Catholic faith" but declined to provide any further details. "Whether or not that article was a true portrayal of students, we should be able to decide for ourselves whether or not it's worth reading," sophomore Joe McAnaney says. "It's disappointing that I can't just pick up the City Paper in the Pryz [the student center] anymore, even though I understand the University's decision."
Washington City Paper | The Tower  |  09-29-2009  12:11 pm  |  Industry News

Some D.C. Residents Cry Foul Over Washington City Paper's Covernew

The cover of this week's paper -- with the provocative headline, "You put me out in Denver 'cause I wouldn't suck your dick" -- has some district residents upset, the Washington Post reports. City Paper says the city's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs has received several calls complaining about the cover, which features a photo of councilman and former mayor Marion Barry with his arm around an ex-girlfriend who has accused him of stalking her. (The quote was taken from a recording of a confrontation between Barry and the ex-girlfriend.) "Some people are going to find that vulgar -- that's inevitable," editor Erik Wemple says. "If they find it vulgar, they can complain. It's worth putting it out there, and it's the truth. Sometimes the truth is vulgar." Publisher Amy Austin tells the Post that the negative reaction has been "much less than I expected," and that only three distribution spots have called to say they wouldn't display the paper while one has called to ask for more copies.
Washington Post | Washington City Paper  |  07-10-2009  10:08 am  |  Industry News

Videos from AAN Convention Now Available

AAN staff experimented with digital video at this year's convention and managed to capture several presentations and panels in reasonably presentable form. The videos are now available for viewing in the members-only AAN.org Resource Library.
AAN  |  07-07-2009  4:17 pm  |  Association News

AAN Elects New President, Fills Ten Board Seats

At the annual meeting of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies on Saturday, June 27, Willamette Week's Mark Zusman was elected the association's new president. He succeeds Metroland's Stephen Leon, who will take the advisory role of Immediate Past President. The membership voted on nine other board seats on Saturday, including two that were created just minutes earlier when AAN's bylaws were amended. (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  07-01-2009  2:42 pm  |  Association News

San Francisco Bay Guardian's Van is Stolennew

"Somebody broke into the Bay Guardian parking lot last night, rammed through the chain-link fence and drove away with our van," Guardian executive editor Tim Redmond writes. "Kinda crazy -- it's ten years old, it's all beat up -- and it has the Guardian logo all over it and a Best of the Bay mural on the side. Hard to hide."
San Francisco Bay Guardian  |  07-01-2009  9:31 am  |  Industry News

Two Newspapers Voted into AAN

At the annual meeting of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies this weekend in Tucson, AAN members approved the membership applications of Inland Empire Weekly of Corona, Calif., and Edmonton's See Magazine. In addition, the membership status of six current member papers that had changed hands in the last two years was affirmed. (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  06-30-2009  3:19 pm  |  Association News

Membership Committee Recommends Two Papers for Admission to AAN

Of the five newspapers that applied for AAN membership this year, the Membership Committee is recommending that two be voted into the association: See Magazine and Inland Empire Weekly. The committee is also recommending that six current members who've experienced ownership changes be reaffirmed. AAN members will vote on these applications, as well as other matters, at Saturday afternoon's Annual Meeting. In addition, the Membership Committee is recommending that AAN take a look at allowing only-online publications to join the association. UPDATE (3:17 PM EST): The membership committee's report as originally uploaded was incorrect when it said that See's owner, Great West Newspapers, was "the largest" media chain in Canada. It's a large company, but not the largest in the country. The document in the resource library has been updated with the correct information. (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  06-26-2009  1:14 pm  |  Industry News

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